The Truth Of Discovery
by BigPigeon69
Summary: An ODST has caught feelings for a Spartan onboard the Infinity. A love she almost certainly shouldn't pursue, not with mysterious Covenant attacks occurring with no sign of drop pods onto heavily guarded planets with seemingly no source... Rated M for sex references and violence. F/F Ship, set before Halo 4 but after 3. Halo is owned by Microsoft exclusively.
1. Chapter 1: Wargames

The whole ship was thrumming with excitement. Spartan Wargames were often private events on board the Infinity. They were mostly put in place to keep the many Spartan IV's onboard to the legendary standard they were held to in the UNSC's ranks. So when the rare opportunity comes along to actually allow the crew to watch them duke it out in a virtual arena filled with high-tech UNSC and sometimes Covenant weaponry, Warthogs, tanks and mechs to see who comes out on top?

Needless to say, everyone gets excited.

Public Wargames are often an opportunity for the Spartans to really cut-loose and show off to the rest of the crew. It's an exhilirating display of acrobatics and skill that completely changes the atmosphere on the Infinity. Bets are made and cans are cracked open. All too reminiscent of sports fans coming home to celebrate every November with food and the time-honoured game.

Corporal Amanda Holland of ODST Hornet Squad and her team was no different. They sat around a view screen on boxes and folding chairs. Some in full-gear, others half dressed in their fatigues or even some in their underwear. The Wargames were not something to be missed lightly, so a lack of modesty wasn't a big deal. The squad chattered amongs themselves as the two Spartan teams to battle were announced on-screen.

Honour Team on Red.

Amanda's heart fluttered in her chest.

Valour Team on Blue.

A collective "Ooooooh" in jeering tones bubbled up from the ODST's, apart from Amanda.

"Hey Manny! Isn't Valour the team your... _girlfriend is on?_ " Came a voice muffled by a helmet. Amanda recognised him.

"Fuck off, Taz. Or I'll superglue your helmet to your scalp." She snapped sourly. The squad all continued their teasing. Saying things like "touchy, are we?" And "someones pretty defensive of their ladycrush." Amanda knew exactly who they were talking about.

Naomi Bhatia. Spartan VI-324. She was tall, strong, charismatic, devastatingly beautiful. Even seeing her in the cafeteria, her strong back hugged tightly by a tank top, dark-skinned arms; fantastically knotted and toned. She was the cause of a familiar, old ache Amanda often fell asleep with on more than one occasion. So far, their interactions consisted of briefly exchanged glances and smirks from across the way, small words spoken from the few times they interacted with each other. Apart from a few, strictly-proffesional missions they were on together (bloodshed and violence not being particularly romantic themes), her "crush" was something physical and base, but as much as she longed for her, she couldn't guarantee it'd lead anywhere, let alone work out. She wasn't even sure if Spartan/Military relationships were allowed, let alone if the feelings she had were shared.

Eventually the jeering subsided, not that she cared much. She'd die for each and every one of her squad. Anything less, then she shouldn't be an ODST. The combatants were in the Virtual Reality Pods, their loadouts were chosen and then...the awesome display of power began.

 ** _5_**

 ** _4_**

 ** _3_**

 ** _2_**

 ** _1_**

 ** _Deathmatch. Last Man Standing._**

Naomi took a deep breath and opened her eyes, assault rifle in her hands. She took a brief moment to assess the situation. The Red Team was on high ground, a machine gun turret in the nest. She put one foot forwards, as did her teammates. The arena was brightly lit, a mettalic structure with walkways rising up above the arena and lower levels suspended in a sea of clouds. Empty space just beyond a few feet of virtual metal. Another step forwards. They broke into a run as one. She recognised the map, the spawn locations of weapons came back to her, appearing in her minds-eye. She blinked. A hail of bullets buzzed from the turret nest, biting at her shields and the metal floor. She threw up her hands, projecting forwards a sapphire energy shield. Round after round crumpled against the hard-light structure, its hue fading from blue, to orange, to a dangerous red. Then it broke and she dived for cover behind a waist-high wall. Her teammates were with her every step of the way. They looked at each other and nodded.

Now the real show begins.

Naomi rolled over the barrier to her right and fell onto the platform on the floor below and broke into a run, her boots thumping against the floor. She bent down and picked up the shotgun she knew had spawned there, simultaneously discarding her assault rifle over the edge of the map and out of sight. She pumped it once out of habit and carried on forwards, the sound of a firefight above. Bullets being spat out by both sides of the war. She reached the middle of the bottom floor where pink missiles were fired in her direction. Some rebounded off of her, her plasma shielding absorbing the damage. She brought her shotgun to bear on the enemy running straight towards her, a needler spitting rosy darts towards her. Everything slowed down. Everyone tensed. She closed one eye.

Her enemy lunged towards her.

She squeezed the trigger.

There was a momentary notion of contact between the enemies helmet and the rim of the shotgun barrel and she swore on her mothers life, she saw through the Red's visor and saw their eyes widen into a look that can only be described as: "Fuck."

An ear-splitting boom and the Red was flat on his back, shrapnel splintering the visor, energy shields giving way immediately and a red mist of virtual blood bursting into existence.

Hornet Squad collectively winced.

Naomi didn't slow down to see the body disappear from sight as the Red was ejected from Virtual Reality and his pod. Naomi didn't even break her stride as she pumped the next shell into the chamber. One down, four to go.

Then, another red rounded the corner of the walkway from the far-end, opening fire and stinging Naomi with burst after burst of rifle fire. She skidded to a halt as her shields succumbed. Desperately, she summoned her hard-light shield and backed away into the central room under the main field where the battle still raged. She disabled her barrier and went to the very center where she knew there was an escape route.

As she passed over a pair of fragmentary grenades that had spawned on the floor, they materialised on her belt instantly, disappearing from their spot on the floor. She put one foot on the wall of a rectangular inlet in the wall, she pushed herself up and towards the opposite wall. She did the same with her right foot in one fluid motion and rolled through the window and to her escape.

The Red sprinted after her, putting his rifle to his back, he followed her up the very same route, rolling in the same way. Except he rolled right over something hard and round. He looked up and saw Bhatia for a split second before he was lost in the detonation of the grenade.

"Thats two." She murmured to herself, grinning from ear to ear.

The battle that raged above had quietened considerably. She poked her head out into the artificial sunlight and saw her last remaining squadmate, rocketing through the air with a jumppack, she held a Saw that chattered bullets at an alarming rate down at the only Red she could see, who was crouched behind a heavy-duty crate.

The Blue touched down to allow her jetpack to recharge and Bhatia took in her surroundings. Spent casings and empty clips were strewn across the battlefield. She turned her head skyward and saw a steely glint. The Blue took flight once more and that steely glint flashed with fire bursting from one end with a **crack!** Bhatia didn't even need to look to know the Blue was dead before she hit the floor. Naomi scaled the wall of the nest the sniper was crouched with decent effort, before pulling herself up and behind the sniper. A heavy tackle and her combat knife was already wedged into the throat of the Red sniper before they had the chance to turn around. She pulled her knife out from the already disappearing body of the Red when she heard a _snap_ and _hiss_ that sent her blood running cold. Her eyes all but locked with the last remaining Red. In his fist was a titanium handle, ill-fitted for human hands. The edges of the handle were flanked with ice-blue and crackling blades of pure, deadly plasma.

She ran. Harder than she ever ran before. She didn't need to look behind her to know that the enemy spartan was hot on her heels with that blasted energy sword. Her legs pounded up a walkway and into the upper-reaches of the arena like a locomotive. Her minimap on her Heads-Up Display showed a red dot slowly gaining on her. Her lungs began to burn.

She rounded a corner and saw her salvation at the end. A rocket launcher, followed by a very infinite drop into defeat. She urged herself forwards, despite her power armour protesting against the exertion. She took her pistol from her hip and fired blindly behind her in a vain attempt to buy herself some more time. She could almost hear the hum of the energy sword, biting at her back like a wasp and that was all she needed as motivation. She flung her pistol to the side and into nothingness before diving forwards. Her hands found, by some miracle, the grips of the launcher. She pulled it into her chest and rolled onto her left shoulder. She found her feet at the very precipise of the walkway and, in an act of pure, brazen stupidity, she launched herself off the edge. She twisted around and found the Red still lunging after her. As if by pure, animal instinct, she pulled the trigger as the twin tips of the plasma blades slid cleanly into her chest armour. Then, everything was fire and she woke up in her pod.

Amanda's jaw hit the floor. Watching Bhatia suicidially leaping to her doom and eliminating the last Red and herself with the missile launcher was insane and possibly the most badass-fucking thing she ever saw.

Boy, if she wasn't gay before...


	2. Chapter 2: What Did Her Pussy Taste Like

Naomi looked up from her cafeteria tray upon hearing a second tray being placed across from her. After a few seconds of searching the strangers face, her mouth broke into a grin.

"Holland, right? Corporal Holland?" She gestured to the seat opposite her, on which the marine sat.

"Yeah! Its-you can call me Amanda," She replied, smiling. Naomi rarely got to see her out of armour and took a moment to just...appreciate her. Lightly tanned with short, brown hair. Dressed in a tank top and combats. Her eyes studied her momentarily before returning to her face.

"Your accent sounds way better when you aren't shouting over gun-fire," Naomi commented, still grinning. Amanda laughed, a protein bar halfway to her mouth.

"I'm sure plenty of things sound better away from a warzone," she replied.

"Where're you from?" Naomi asked. "I can't really place it."

"Oh, Traverse-II. Churchill City. Unsurprisingly, mostly populated with England-descended settlers. You?"

"Solaire-V. Really diverse place. Its kind of a...poorer place. Thats why I joined the military straight out of highschool."

Amanda looked up at her. "Same here, man." She ate a mouthful of potatoes before speaking up again. "I just wanted to congratulate you on The Wargames yesterday, it was fucking awesome." Amanda's face was the picture of admiration and by God was she cute. "Especially when that guy was running straight for you and you blasted him in the face!" Naomi laughed with her this time.

"Oh man, Samson is still pissy about that one. I swear, every time he gets killed in the Wargames he finds some excuse as to why he got killed like "oh the sim was lagging" or "that tactic's cheating" or my favourite: "my sim pod must have been buggy!" If the pod was buggy then he should tell an engineer instead of bitching about it all night!"

"Wait, really? I didn't think a Spartan would be the type to whine about a game like that," Amanda snorted and took a bite of her protein bar. "Still, when you shot him in the face? Holy crap, I didn't think it was possible for every part of my body to contract but it sure as shit happened!" Naomi coughed and sputtered on her mouthful of coffee and thumped on her chest a few times with her palm before laughing roughly.

"Dude, I mean same. It was really intense in there." She took one more more sip of coffee before going for her eggs with a knife and fork. "Needlers are the worst in the Wargames." She griped, remembering her most embarassing death in the Wargames. "Samson loves them for some reason. Probably cause he sucks at aiming," Amanda chuckled at the comment.

"Oh my favourite part about the Wargames?" Amanda took a swig of water. "When that guy was chasing you with the sword and you went for the rocket launcher and took yourself out with him! That was so cool dude, my heart was racing the entire time. I've never seen a Spartan running at full pelt too! How fast can you run?" She asked curiously, leaning forwards on her elbows.

"Oh? My average speed out of armour is like...forty miles an hour? Something around there. In the suit I could probably reach up to sixty. Sixty five is pushing it. Although the one chasing me? Darson? The dude can break fifty out of armour without trying cause that guy is fucking fast!" She explained, greatly enjoying the look of disbelief on Amanda's face.

"No fucking way! Really? Shit how much can you lift with that kind of augmentation?" Amanda asked, unabashedly letting her eyes study Naomi's arms. She then checked herself and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm being weird. I'm just..." She looked down with a frown. "I'm just really...Spartans were a huge inspiration for me, y'know? Actually talking to you is something I never really thought would happen." She twiddled her thumbs anxiously. She heard Naomi stand up, her chair scraping against the rubber floor. "Dammit." She murmured under her breath.

Amanda felt a soft hand squeeze her shoulder gently.

"Get up, Holland. I'm gonna show you how much a Spartan can lift."

"250 pounds? Dude, I am genuinely offended." Naomi said in mock offense. She lifted up the barbell with one hand and curled it with very little effort. "Like lifting a newborn baby." She added. The Spartan Gym was large, larger than the marine one. Then again, there were about 30 marine gyms and way fewer Spartans. The gym was full of high-end equipment, far larger and fancier than any of the usual stuff. There were weights that reached sizes way higher than any marine could lift. At the far end was three Spartans on large treadmills, legs pumping like pistons on ancient steam trains and twice as fast, however Amanda only had eyes for Naomi.

Amanda smirked. "If you lift babies like that then I hope you never have kids." She joked, eliciting a laugh from Naomi.

"Come on, dude, give me a real challenge."

"Okay, okay. 350?"

Naomi assembelled the weights onto thebar and lifted them easily above her head. "Close," she set the weights down on the gym floor. "But no cigar," she grinned, greatly enjoying all the attention.

"450?"

"Getting warmer," Naomi grinned straining from the effort of elevating the equipment above her head. Naomi looked back at the weight selection. "500?"

"550," Naomi finished for her, walking over with a proud grin to the racks, replacing all the equipment. Amanda had to stop herself from staring at her chiselled back. "Damn...that's some serious augmentation,"

Naomi smirked, turning to face her. "You don't know the half of it. When they were finished with all the primary surgery I couldn't walk for three days," She rubbed her hands together. "Nothing I wasn't used to though," she half-muttered to herself. Her face went from pensive to its usual cheery self on a switch, returning to her normal demeanour. "I'm gonna go take a shower, I'll see you around, dude!" She waved as she left the gym leaving Amanda to ponder momentarily on why Naomi lowered her voice like that. Pushing a mental image of Naomi showering from her head, the corporal left the gym and to find the rest of her teammates who, undoubtedly, had some very appropriate and supportive words for her in regards to her little "date" with a Spartan.

"What did her pussy taste like?" Raucous laughter ensued.

"Better than your mum's, Taz, thats for sure," Amanda replied, the rest of the squad "oo-ing" and chortling. Taz, himself rocked back with laughter.

Amanda never felt so good.

 _(I'm so sorry, i know its been months but the second chapter is here! Pretty short but i hope you guys like it nonetheless. I've been dealing with depression and work but hopefully i'll be able to start writing again soon!)_


	3. Chapter 3: Seek and Recover

"Your mission: Seek and Recover AI designated "Grey". Eliminate all Covenant resistance." The text appeared on the display on Hollands visor. She took a deep breath and pinged her squad. 4 pinged back; Taz, Lionel, Jim and Chrys.

"Commander Palmer, Hornet Squad is ready to drop." She radioed in.

"Good. Remember, you're here to support Valour Squad. They do the heavy lifting, do not take unnecessary risks. Understood, ODST's?"

A collection of "yes ma'ams" replied all at once and the pod doors closed around them. She took another deep breath and double checked her battle rifle was secured. This was a close quarters mission but with long streets and a good line of sight for snipers, it was good to take something along that she can cover herself with.

Three bloops. Then a high pitched beep and the pods dropped one by one.

"Feet first into hell." Holland thought to herself, somewhat grimly. Her pod dropped into the cloud cover and she was blind, save for her radar. The targeting computers took care of the land zone.

"Hey, Corp? How did the Covvies get into a city? I'm not seeing an invasion force," Lionel spoke up, ever the voice of asking questions. Holland left the cloud layer and saw the dark city below. No capital ships. Civilians had been evacuated but, apart from a few patrolling phantoms and a single corvette, there was nothing.

"I don't know, Lionel. Could have dropped and bolted when The Infinity showed up?" She tried to keep her voice level but the lack of actual visible ships made her nervous. The Covenant splinter faction that remained after the Halo Wars was fanatic, sure, but way too small to invade a city. "Just stay focused and count yourself lucky we don't have more to deal with. The planets militia is keeping the force contained for now, but we have to get that AI no matter what." Repeating the mission details felt redundant but it kept her calm. "Valour Squad, you read?"

"We hear ya Hornet Squad, hitting dirt in five seconds." The spartans were dropped in their own pods a few streets away. "Come to us and we can get going." The voice on the comms was cavalier all things considered. She took it as a good sign.

The pods crashed into the city below, doors hissing open as they unpressurised. It was dusk on the planet and visibility was getting worse. "No sprained ankles?" She asked, unlocking her rifle from the pods holster and stepping out into the cool air.

Replies from Hornet Squad confirmed their safe landing. "Alright, we're three streets away-"

The sound of gunfire over the comms cut through her voice. "Way heavier resistance than anticipated! Need backup!" It was Naomi's voice. Like someone lit a match inside her, she took to a run in the direction of her HUD's objective marker. "You heard her, Hornets!"

———————————————————

Naomi's assault rifle battered into an elites shields, forcing him into cover. One of the pods failed to open, trapping her squadmate inside. It was wedged into the ground at an odd angle due to the car it had landed on. The emergency eject couldn't dislodge the door and the Spartan inside was attempting to kick his way out with limited success. Naomi turned and attempted to loosen the door before being grappled from behind by the same elite. Her squad dropped right behind an ammunition stockpile with limited cover. They were pinned down and forced to stay low.

Except Naomi.

She balled up her fists and rammed her assailant in the gut, just under where the combat harness gave way to the body suit underneath. The elite gasped as the wind left his lungs, giving room for Naomi to twist around and elbow the elite again, this time in the face. One last struggle and a quick punch to the throat and she was free, the elites shields disabled once more. Three rapid shots punctured through the elites helmet and ejected purple matter out the other side, leaving the elite dead before he hit the ground.

"Take 'em out, Hornets!" There was a roar of jump packs firing their payload, launching three Hornets across the field, each taking up elevated positions in the apartment balconies. They opened fire with assault rifles, keeping the covenant suppressed. "Taz! Cut that pod open." Taz ran forwards and skidded onto his knees, taking a cutting tool from his leg holster. While he went to work on the pod, Naomi stood between him and the covenant. She reloaded while Holland went round the back of the pod and aimed down her scope. With the covenants assault held for precious seconds, the soldiers could retaliate in kind. As elites dropped and the grunts fled, Holland exhaled. She hadn't realised she was holding her breath.

There was the sound of twisting metal as the Spartan was freed from his pod.

"Thanks, Bahtia." He said, taking his weapon from his pod.

"Not me, them." Naomi nodded at the ODST switching off his cutting tool.

"Oh, uh," the Spartan switched on his comms. "'Preciate the assist there, marines. That was a close one."

"No problem, sir." Taz, unusually respectful, lifted up the welding shield from over his visor.

"Any injuries?" Holland asked. Her ODST's responded with negatives across the board. Three ODST's dropped from the balconies, lowering their speed with careful thruster bursts. The Spartans all stood up from behind cars and doorways. Except one.

"Its the captain." One Spartan dropped to one knee over the body. This one Holland recognised as Kota, denoted by their Scout helmet and blue-gray armour scheme. Holland stayed solemnly quiet. Naomi swore under her breath. Holland noticed her clench her fists.

"Palmer, we have a spartan down. We were caught in an ambush." Holland didn't hear Palmers response. "Affirmative." She looked around the rest of her squad and unclenched her fists. "I'll be acting captain for this mission, Palmers orders." The spartans nodded. "Jenna, you stay behind and make sure the captain gets recovered and meet up with us." A spartan in a dark red suit holding a DMR nodded silently. "The rest of you will be with me and Hornet Squad." A response of "yes ma'ams" and everyone was ready to head out.

The sun set red that night.

 _Note: hey gaymers! It sure has been a while huh? I'm in a much better place than i was before so I think I'm getting back into that writing saddle. Hope you guys like the new chapter! In the last two, they swore a lot and were kinda "generic snarky oc" (imo at least) so hopefully they are more unique from each other now. I'm also doing this more freeform too so that'll be good hopefully_

 _I left because the whole net neutrality thing (thanks ajit pai, ya bougie dick) worried me me out of uploading new chapters but i think its all over now so I'll try to be more consistent._

 _(Also i cant seem to fix the spacing so i'm sorry if it looks like a wall of text, i hope thats okay!)_


	4. Chapter 4: A Long, Quiet Walk

Night had fallen across the city shortly after the initial firefight. They left no survivors to report the attack so they had gone mostly unnoticed. Long, black clouds rolled over two silver moons, basking the city in an eerie, blue glow. No one dared to even tread on glass out of respect for this oppressive silence. The careful steps of boots on tarmac was only punctuated with the occasional quick dashing into cover as phantoms slid menacingly across the skyline, searchlights probing the shadows. It was cold in the city, chill winds sweeping down the concrete valleys, piercing Hollands combat suit. She envied the Spartan IV's climate controlled suits. Looking at them was entrancing, a mesh of technology and biomechanics that linked together with the user. Each suit was custom fitted to exaggerate each spartans inherent strengths, be it speed, strength or reflexes. The suit was like a second skin. The armour plates didn't shift and slide like the polymer flak plates that made up Marine armour. They were carefully secured to the bodysleeve beneath, which contoured the Spartans body, twisting and stretching like muscle. She was old enough to remember the Spartan III's on Reach. They were much cruder, even than Spartan II's. She didn't know how Spartans came into existence apart from surgery and training. The exact details were closely guarded secrets. Some theorised they were grown in vats like clones, but that sounded like a conspiracy theory to her.

Spartan III's were far too human. Out of all the Spartans she'd read about and even fought alongside, the Threes were violent and full of fire. They hated the Covenant, far more than most. They took pleasure in putting down fleeing grunts and relished engaging Elites in hand to hand combat. They seemed vengeful and so, so angry all the time. They talked and bickered and even got into fights with one another. They made Spartan II's look herculean in comparison. The Spartan III's also disappeared as fast as they arrived. Most perished on Reach when it was glassed into a wasteland. The few that survived seemed to age faster than regular people. Some even took their own lives. Maybe when they were discontinued and discharged with honours, they had nothing left. When a spartan was killed outside of combat, the news always had a field day. It was almost unthinkable Spartans could actually die back then. When they did it was as if a celebrity had died. People were shocked and everyone had long discussions about it. But thats all history now. Things are moving forwards faster than ever. The truce between the Sangheili and the UNSC, the Unngoy returned to their homeworld, Jiralhanae lay scattered and demoralised. They weren't aliens to be shot at anymore. When the Covenant fell, they weren't monsters anymore. It left a disturbed feeling in her stomach. It reminded her of the Nuremburg trials of the 20th century. When genocidal human fascists were tried and executed for war crimes. She didn't remember hearing about any trials, any kind of reparations for the billions slaughtered. It made her sick, the fact that the UNSC was kinder to war criminals than they were to defectors within the UNSC. Press a button and burn a city to the ground and you get a peace treaty and a ride home, disobey a direct order and you get the firing squad. She shook her head and tried focusing on the mission once again.

Lionel had spoken up. "Ma'am, we're reaching the city hub but its crawling with Covenant." Everyone else had stopped in an alley temporarily and, while in her own head, Holland had stepped out into the street by herself. She turned and was about to chastise Lionel for insisting on calling her "ma'am" when Naomi had called out.

"Holland! Ghosts!" Holland whipped around and saw a purple speeder racing towards her, blue trails fanning out from its wings. Time slowed to a crawl when she was yanked by her collar and thrown backwards. Naomi had sprung forwards and was struck by the passing speeder. The ghost span around on impact with the eight hundred pound super soldier while Naomi's shields shattered and she was thrown onto the ground with a slam that, compared to the silence of before, seemed to be louder than any grenade. As Naomi fell, the other Spartan, who Holland later found out preferred the name Track, opened fire with their assault rifle, bullets ricocheted off the the ghosts surface, leaving little more than scratches. The ghost righted itself and opened fire with its twin linked plasma bolters, spraying into the alley. Thinking fast, Holland rolled behind Naomis unconscious form, hoping the shields and armour would keep her safe. Lionel and Taz slipped behind a duster while Jim and Chrys kept behind the broad back of Track. Eventually a bullet found its way around the domed nose of the speeder and scored a flesh wound on the shoulder of the Jackal piloting it causing it to shriek and flee.

"Everybody move!" Holland ordered and the ODST's retreated further into the alley; Track complied after reloading and grabbing Naomi by the chest plate and dragging her with them. They went further down the back route before coming out into the other street where they met the second ghost. Track dropped Naomi and opened fire on the ghost, drawing its attention and stepping out from the alley. They dropped low and to the right to avoid a shower of plasma before rolling onto their feet and running forwards. The ghost took this challenge and ignited its boost. Track stepped to the side and grabbed the wing of the ghost, causing it to buck under the new weight. In the same motion, they brought their leg up and forcibly removed the Jackal from its vehicle. They span the speeder around and cut into the still tumbling alien with a quick shower of plasma before looking to Holland.

"Naomi will be fine, she's just stunned. I'll get the other ghost and meet you back here." They said coolly before spinning the ghost around and firing up the street and out of sight. As if on cue, Naomi stood up with a grunt.

"Spartan Bahtia, are you hurt?"

"Nothing i wont get better from, are you okay?" Naomi stood up to her full height and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Yes ma'am," replied Holland quickly. "Thanks to your good timing too," she added. Both their visors were expressionless as they looked at one another. "Chrys, call for backup. If the covenant are converged around the hub then breaking through will be impossible on our own." Chrys nodded and hailed The Infinity. A few seconds of quiet talking was interrupted by the sound of plasma bolts hissing against metal and the sound of a heavy impact. Holland looked back down the alley to see Track heading up to meet them, blue flames and acrid smoke dancing behind them.

"This is yours, Corporal." They handed Holland the battle rifle she had dropped when she was yanked by Naomi. She thanked them and checked it was undamaged, not expecting anything to be changed. UNSC guns were rudimentary but sturdy as hell.

"Holland? The Infinity's dropping us some ordnance and warthogs to clear the way, ETA 19 minutes." Holland nodded.

"Okay ODST's, form a perimeter and stay alert."

———————————————————

"Last crate. Good luck Marines." The Pelicans engines flared up and the ship lifted off. In the time it had taken the Pelican to drop off its cargo, including Spartan Jenna, UNSC marines had caught up with them and offered support.

"Covenant lines have been broken, they're backed into a corner around the AI Hub building and dug in." The marine officer informed Holland and Naomi.

"We need to secure the AI. Covenant never invested in that field so cracking through firewalls and security will take longer for them. That buys us plenty of time."

"I'll get my ODST's to take out any snipers and turret emplacements first and foremost. The Marines will drive up in the Warthogs to pressure them into cover while dropping you and the Spartans off near the front. You'll be covered by us so feel free to get aggressive. We cant leave anything to chance with this so we hit them hard while they're on the backfoot."

Naomi chuckled. "You'd make a good Spartan, Holland." Holland took a deep breath and held it for a second before nodding and turning around to her squad. Lionel and Chrys, now armed with sniper rifles. Taz and Jim had since swapped battle rifles for SMG's, with Taz having also called dibs on getting the grenade launcher.

"Taz, use that sparingly, we have about two handfuls of shells and I dont want you wasting them." Holland warned. Taz, upon being addressed, adjusted his stance and nodded.

"You can trust me, I wont let you down ma'am." His voice was assured and sounded responsible. The idea that he wanted to make a good impression for the Spartans passed through Hollands mind. Holland simply patted Taz on the shoulder.

"Alright, Hornets, mount up!" The ODST's followed her commands quickly and took positions on the warthogs. The Spartans soon followed suit, mounting their own Warthog. Naomi span the barrels of the rear-mounted turret in apprehension. Soon, the quiet streets were filled with the sound of heavy engines and hissing pneumatics. The streets were thick with rubble and abandoned cars, requiring careful manoeuvring, the closer they got to the bunker, the more destruction there seemed to be. Just like the old Covenant, there was little regard for human life. Corpses were either left rotting in the street or piled up and burned. Holland clenched the steering wheel a little tighter.

Eventually, the street widened out and the bunker sat before them with what she didn't expect. Mostly Grunts and Jackals with low-ranking Elites to keep them in line, far lighter than what she would have done in their shoes. Still following the plan; Chrys and Jim launched themselves from the warthog passenger seats and took to the balconies across the road. Soon the sounds of sniper fire filled the air before being thoroughly drowned out by chattering machine guns. Both Holland and Track kept the warthogs mobile, criss-crossing each other to keep two lines of fire on the aliens for as long as possible. A grunt attempted to return fire with a Shade Turret that had been deployed, but was quickly taken down with a swift shot. Soon, all that was left were hot bullet casings bouncing against the tarmac and the strong smell of cordite. Holland pulled the handbrake and leaned back, considering their next move. Before she could formulate anything, Naomi spoke up.

"There's definitely more inside, no way they'd only guard their position with one shade turret." Her voice crackled over the comms.

"What do you suggest?" Holland replied, picking a casing out of her collar.

"The Spartans and I go in there, kill anything in our way, secure the AI then get offworld back to The Infinity."

"Just the three of you? That seems risky." She shook her head slightly. "They've likely deployed zealots to secure-" Holland was cut short by Naomi.

"With respect, there is nothing in there we can't handle. They could have a wraith crammed in there and we'd be fine." Naomi almost sounded too confident.

"Fine, Hornet Squad will stay here with the warthogs. The moment you need backup, Taz, Lionel and I will be in there to support you."

"Sounds like a plan." As the three Spartans dismounted, Holland took her helmet off for some fresh air, something she immediately regretted. The blood fumes from dead aliens coalesced into a thick miasma that made her stomach turn. She quickly reattached her helmet and tried to not think about it too much.

———————————————————

When Naomi, Track and Jenner entered the building, a voice buzzed in over the intercom. A calm, androgynous voice said: "Spartans, I'm glad you've arrived. I am the AI designated "Gray". I need to proceed into the Central Processing Room, but you will face strong resistance. Inside are two Elite Zealots that are attempting to gain access to me, but I am doing my best to impede their progress."

"Acknowledged, Gray. Can you give us directions?" Naomi asked. The room was all but pitch black. If it wasn't for her VISR system adjusting her HUD, the only visible images would have been the lights on her assault rifle. Electronics were given a green glow and outline to highlight their presence, while.

"Yes, there is an elevator shaft here-" upon saying that, a waypoint appeared in Naomis VISR, highlighting an elevator door at the end of a corridor past the reception desk. "-Which should allow direct access to the bottom level where I am located. Be advised that your arrival has alerted the Zealots to your presence and they are doubling their efforts to reach me." Naomi adjusted her grip on her rifle.

"Don't worry, we'll get their first."

"You must." Came her reply.

With that, Naomi and her squad headed down the corridor briskly. Upon reaching the elevator doors she tapped the access panel. It was shut off, like most of the power in the Hub. She looked back at the others, to which Jenner stepped forwards with her knife and swiftly jammed it between the doors, pulling it to the side with considerable effort. Naomi and Track gripped the barely prised apart doors and pulled them apart with a snap of something metal inside the mechanism. Jenner regarded the knife, its blade twisted to a 45 degree angle. She tossed it aside with some irritability and looked down the shaft, seeing only inky blackness.

"After you, Lieutenant." She stepped back and gestured for Naomi to take the plunge. Naomi sighed and stepped off, locking up her armour as she did. She disappeared into the dark, following the sound of a heavy impact into metal.

"Dont all rush at once, Spartans." She said sarcastically over the comms. Jenner came next, followed by Track. The prospect of facing off two zealots with little visibility apart from the crimson lights powered by backup generators was not one she was looking forward to. They ran down the corridor as Gray fed them directions through the speakers along the walls, giving her a tinny, surreal tone.

Luckily, when they arrived in the AI Core, it was empty, save for a large tower where, presumably, all the admin happened for the city. And stood on a projector disc in front of it was the glowing, silver silhouette of a woman, dressed in a suit, save for the jacket, and adorned in holographic, black hair; cut short at the sides and stuck up at the front. She gave them a look that could be interpreted as relief, but her stony facial features gave little away.

"Spartans, thank God you're here. Eject my card and get me away from the city."

"Got it. Jenner, get her out." Naomi replied.

"On it." Jenner moved quickly to the console and signed in. The only sound Naomi could hear was the tapping of keys on a pad. Then a familiar hiss and snap that turned her blood to ice."

"Jenner!" Track shouted. Jenner looked to her left, then her right and threw herself backwards to avoid a hissing, shimmering blade thrust forwards like a scorpions sting. Jenner responded by opening fire with her assault rifle, causing the Zealots shields to light up. It threw up its arm to protect its face and retreated beneath the main walkway.

"You cannot let them capture me!" Grays voiced echoed loudly out of the speakers. Floodlights bathed the room in a shock of white light. Just in time, Naomi turned and fired upon a shimmer behind her, causing the second Zealots active camouflage to fail, forcing it back into the shadows.

"Jenner, finish the download!" Naomi barked. Jenner immediately got back onto the console to complete the download process, causing Gray to disappear from the projector disc. Naomi, Track and Jenner formed a three-pronged defensive position, watching the shadows for any unnatural shifting of light, any sound that gave away their enemies position. Occasionally, they'd get a glimpse of a half-visible alien only for it to disappear from view before a burst of rounda could strike it. The silence was almost deafening in itself, one strike from an energy sword could be a death sentence and, although they outnumbered them, they had the advantage of surprise.

As the console beeped and ejected the AI Card through a slot, a shimmering blue orb flew from the shadows.

"Grenade!" Naomi's warning forced the Spartans to scatter, except Track, who took a split second to grab the now ejected AI card from the console. They held it to their chest and jumped away from the blast, their shields scored by immolating plasma. "Looks like the Zealots no longer had concern for the AI's retrieval." Naomi thought grimly. She immediately went to protect Track, firing upon the outline of a zealot rushing them, she ducked low to avoid a swipe from its sword before unloading the rest of her clip into the zealots stomach, crashing its shields and causing a spatter of purple blood to colour the floor. The Zealot roared in pain and clutched its abdomen, stumbling backwards. Jenner pulled out her magnum and fired at the Elite, two shots hitting its shoulders and the third smashing into its helmet.

There was the sound of struggling behind Naomi and she whipped around to see the second Zealot, one hand on Track's helmet, holding it so that their neck was exposed. The other held his energy sword, plasma crackling off its blade and against Tracks shielding.

"The moment you shoot, your Demon dies." Its...no, _his_ voice was a rumbling thunder cloud. A storm of anger, pride and detest. "I will sever his head from his body in an instant, unless you allow me to leave with him." Naomi and Jenner were both silent, watching Track and the Zealot, Track still clutching the AI Card. "And if you-" he pushed Tracks head hard against his chest. "-drop the AI, you will die anyway." The Elite took one step and then another towards the door to the access tunnels. He raised his foot to take a third step and it did not touch the ground before the rest of his body did, for a sniper rifle round punctured into the back of his skull and through the other side with a shocking crack. The sniper rifle, held by none other than Corporal Holland. As the Elites grip released Track they stumbled away from the hulking alien and straight into Jenner's arms. They embraced silently for a second before Track turned to hand the card to Naomi, who slotted it into the back of her helmet.

"Mission accomplished, Lieutenant?" Holland asked, shouldering the rifle.

"Mission accomplished." Naomi nodded once.

 _Notes: Hey gaymers! Hope you didnt think i forgot about this again. Honestly i was stuck writing this last bit but the power of heavy metal music and tea saw me through! Hope you liked this chapter as much as i do! Its a bit inspired by ODST and Reach but with worse spartan characters (I will try to develop them more, its just difficult for a newbie writer. And to my lovely girlfriend reading to this: ILY_


	5. Chapter 5: Cold Comfort

_Authors note: Bhatia was referred to as "lieutenant" which is wrong cause spartan 4's are seperate from traditional military ranks, i realised after the fact rip_

It was a quiet fly home. Once they were up in the air, Holland removed her helmet and placed it in her lap. Above the smoke and fumes she could breathe easily. She watched as Covenant ships made their retreat, chased away by the marines as they moved in to secure the city. As the last corvette entered slipspace, the pelicans doors closed. Hornet Squad were in good spirits. Its a job well done for them. Taz and Chrys chatted to each other while Lionel tapped away on his handheld datapad and Jim leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed. Napping, presumably.

Valiant Squad were different. The three remaining spartans were tense and quiet. Now that the job was over, the loss of their captain was settling in. Track and Jenner were quiet, their hands interlocked. Naomi looked down at the floor.

After they docked, the two squads parted to their seperate sections of the ship to recoup. Once out of their combat suits and in their quarters, Commander Palmer thanked them on their performance. Holland smiled and they all saluted, but Palmers words fell on deaf ears.

As the ship switched into its night cycle, the squad settled into their bunks. Exchanges of "good night" were made and everyone slipped into sleep. Except Holland. She lay awake, staring up at the ceiling, replaying the events of the mission in her head. She must have fell asleep eventually cause she woke up with everyone else when their alarm went off the following morning.

—

Captain Del Rio entered the war room to meet the Gray. She observed him entering and folded her arms behind her back.

"Captain, I'm glad you can meet me." She said, her expression betraying nothing. The captain nodded in agreement.

"I'm glad our teams recovered you in time, when the planet has been secured and you're no longer of use to us, you'll be returned promptly." Gray clenched her jaw.

"Yes, I suppose I will."

The captain, noticing Grays change in mood, quickly changed the subject.

"I've been told that you have accumulated some unnoticed details of the attack. I've been given the rundown, but I want to hear it from your perspective." Gray paused for a second before speaking.

"The first thing I noticed was the lack of capital ships, despite detecting slipspace signatures. It was only after I discovered covenant forces in the city that i realised we were under attack. By the time evacuation began, they disabled the generator powering the cities orbital defence platform, which is when a corvette appeared to provide reinforcements. The city was taken completely by surprise." Gray explained.

"What do you believe the end result of capturing you would have been?" Del Rio asked. He reached into his pocket to find a small coin, its face rubbed smooth. He began to turn it over in his palm rythmically.

Gray paused again before speaking. "Well, capture of an AI such as myself could have yielded information about human colonies that are important to the UNSC's survival. Since they don't have the numbers or resources for planetary invasion, they couldn't do this systematically. Not only that, but without me, you would have no idea how they accomplished this attack." The captain took a step forward.

"Then how did they? A stealth frigate? Teleportation?" Gray shook her head.

"I highly doubt either of those could have been it. Frankly, its almost as if the forces were transported to the surface directly without need for any secondary military installations." The Captain stared at Gray incredulously.

"How long have you been in service?" He asked.

"I am **not** suffering from rampancy, if that is what you're implying. You asked for my information and I gave it to you." Gray snapped. "If there's nothing else you need then I'll be going." And with that, Gray's form disappeared.The Captain frowned and muttered something about "touchy AI's these days" and left the room.

—

"I, uh...didn't see you at breakfast, so I brought you something." Holland said, holding out a cafeteria tray, leaving Naomi more than a little confused. She was stood outside the entrance to Naomi's quarters, dressed in a tank top and kahki cargo pants, with her hair still a mess and semi-confident smile on her face. "I wasn't sure what you were allowed to eat so i brought you the same as last time we ate breakfast together." Holland held a tray of (almost) the same breakfast she had two days ago. When Bahtia failed to give an answer, stunned at the gesture, Hollands confident mask slipped. "Oh my god I knew it, this was too much. I'm really sorry, this was really inappropriate of me to do." Holland began to walk quickly away but Naomi called after her.

"Wait! Holland, its okay. This was really nice of you, but why?"

"Well, Spartans need to maintain a proper diet and..." she paused, looking down. "It was about your fireteam leader, I figured you were taking it kinda hard." It was as if a stone had gotten trapped in Naomi's throat.

"Right...yeah it's a little difficult right now." Holland looked at her, seeing right through the brave face she had put on.

"Do you need to talk?" Holland asked. Wordlessly, Naomi stepped back to let Holland in. After setting down the tray on the bed, she looked at Naomi, who was currently standing stiffly by the door.

"I don't usually, do well with...talking about stuff." Naomi said flatly. Holland just gave her a look and patted the bed next to her.

"You don't have to say anything, I just want to talk." Naomi sighed and sat down beside Holland, causing the bed to sag a little.

"You know I'm a corporal, right?" Naomi nodded in response, starting first with a pot of preserved oatmeal that she shook. As she shook, the pot heated up and then began to release steam. "Well, Corporals don't lead squads. We lost our sergeant a couple of weeks back. I'm the de facto leader until they find someone better or give me a promotion." Naomi paused eating and looked over at Holland. The corporal continued, "I guess we're in the same boat. It's hard losing someone you looked up to and having to take their place. To take their responsibility as your own. Having an entire squad looking to you for guidance and instruction, knowing that if you mess up, it's your head." Holland swallowed and looked down. "But I can either succeed or fail. Inaction is a failure. No matter what, I have to do something. That's the only way to succeed. If you let yourself get frozen in place, then you lose. You get left behind. So no matter what, you have to try and do the right thing. That means being there for people and trying your best." Holland sniffed. Naomi nodded and the room was quiet.

"It's just not the same, though." Naomi's voice cracked. "One of my augments...it links spartans to their armour and to each other. Its less of a link like in a comms system, more like we feel each others presence. Its telepathic." Naomi explained. "When our fireteam leader died...I felt it. Everything. His pain, his confusion. I felt his fear. I got flashes of images as his neurones fired off at random. All of that in microseconds. It was so much at once and then there was nothing." Tears were streaming down Naomi's face at this point. "It's like seeing every colour imaginable, then having your eyes gouged out." She stuttered, before beginning to weep silently, her shoulders shuddering as she took in breath. Holland got off the bed and embraced Naomi. Between them, there was nothing but Naomi's sniffling and the low rumble of the ship that enclosed them.

After a while, Naomi lifted her head from Hollands shoulder, Holland broke the embrace in response. After a brief moment of silence, Holland spoke up.

"But you didn't let him down, Naomi. Without you, we would have never completed the mission. He'd be proud of you." Naomi shook her head.

"When we got back on board, dropped off the AI and got out of our armour, I-I lashed out at them. We were talking about him and I can't even remember what they said, I just yelled at them. Obviously Track and Jenner defended each other. I was way out of line. I've ruined this squad and I've only been in charge for a less than a day." She looked down and covered her face and breathed out a long sigh. Holland put a hand on her shoulder.

"Naomi, you're in grief and mourning. Its normal to act irrationally. When my sergeant died I stopped eating cause of stress." Holland rubbed Naomi's shoulder before continuing: "It's normal to be like this. You just have to apologise to them. Remember what I said: The only way you succeed is by doing something." Naomi nodded and rubbed her face.

"You're right. I can't be like this, not right now." Naomi looked up and smiled at Holland. "I'm just surprised you took the time to make sure I was okay."

"Well, I think people should be kinder to each other these days. Plus, it's the right thing to do." Holland shrugged.

"Thanks, Holland."

"Anytime." Holland gave a small smile, stood up and turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "Oh and let me know when the funeral is, the Hornets will be there." And with that, Holland was out the door and gone. Naomi sat quietly, planning out her apology. She never thought she'd have to open up like this twice in one day.

 _Hey there! This is a bit of a slower chapter, more feelsy stuff, i hope you liked reading it. My gf offered to start checking my writing for mistakes so there'll be fewer discrepancies and cleaner sentence structure. Thanks for reading!_


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